U.S.: Obama Calls for More Development, Counterinsurgency Aid

U.S. President Barack Obama Monday called on Congress to approve major increases over the coming months in global health, development, and counterinsurgency assistance as part of a record 3.8-trillion-dollar 2011 federal budget.

AFGHANISTAN: US Night Raids and Secret Prisons Anger Civilians

An investigative report published on TomDispatch.com about U.S. forces' operations in Afghanistan paints a gruesome picture of surprise night raids, indiscriminate killing and random detention of civilians during those raids, as well as what appears to be widespread use of torture of Afghan detainees.

AFGHANISTAN: Officials’ Optimism on Economy Belies Deep Poverty

Afghanistan may be one of the poorest countries in the world, but official figures do not quite paint a picture of a country deep in the throes of poverty and underdevelopment.

U.S.: Obama Faces Increasingly Daunting Picture Overseas

While President Barack Obama's first State of the Union Address Wednesday night will almost certainly focus on the economy, unemployment, and other pressing domestic issues, an increasingly worrisome international situation is likely to be tugging at the back of his mind.

POLITICS: U.S. Taking New Tack on Afghan Poppies

Counter-narcotics and counterinsurgency often go hand-in-hand in Afghanistan, where the opium poppy trade bankrolls much of the Taliban's operations and greases political corruption.

POLITICS: Behind Cautious Signal, a Decision for Afghan Peace Talks

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's very cautiously-worded support for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban leadership in an interview published Monday is only the first public signal of a policy decision by the Barack Obama administration to support a political settlement between the Hamid Karzai regime and the Taliban, an official of McChrystal's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command has revealed in an interview with IPS.

AFGHANISTAN: In Run-up to Meet, US, Britain Push Reconciliation

On the eve of a major international conference on Afghanistan, senior U.S. and British officials are hinting that they are more open to a political settlement with elements of the Taliban than at any time since Washington helped oust it from power nine years ago.

RIGHTS: U.S. Names Bagram Prisoners, Withholds Details

After years of stonewalling, the U.S. Defence Department has released the names of people imprisoned at the notorious Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

RIGHTS: British Govt to Release Documents on Gitmo Case

After months of denial, the British government has agreed to release secret documents that lawyers say could prove that MI5 agents were present during the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's torture of a British resident held by the U.S. government for eight years.

U.S.: Suicide Rate Surged Among Veterans

Suicides among United States military veterans ballooned by 26 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to new statistics released by the Veterans Affairs (VA) department.

POLITICS: Okinawa Air Base a Thorn in U.S.-Japan Ties

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is traveling in the South Pacific this week on a trip to strengthen the longtime U.S. alliances with Australia, work to improve relations with New Zealand and to bring some forward momentum to U.S.-Japanese negotiations over the controversial relocation of the U.S. air station in Okinawa.

RIGHTS-US: Afghan Prisoners Challenge Indefinite Detention

While the unsuccessful attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas day captured the headlines and put major political roadblocks in the path of prisoner release from Guantanamo Bay, the courts – far more quietly - continued to play a major role in influencing the detention issue.

MEDIA-US: Afghanistan Dominated TV Foreign News in 2009

Afghanistan and the U.S. military escalation in the civil war there dominated foreign-related news coverage by the three major U.S. television networks in 2009, according to the latest annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report.

U.S.: Digging Out or Digging Deeper?

As 2009 draws to a close, the big question here is whether President Barack Obama is succeeding in digging out of the hole – international as well as financial - that he inherited from George W. Bush or digging deeper into it.

CORRUPTION: The Great Afghan Gem Heist

In the last eight years Afghanistan's precious stones and artifacts have been pillaged at record levels. Thieves, both foreign and domestic, often steal the riches from under the noses of officials.

POLITICS: U.S. Silent About Taliban Guarantee Offer on al Qaeda

The Barack Obama administration is refusing to acknowledge an offer by the leadership of the Taliban in early December to give "legal guarantees" that it will not allow Afghanistan to be used for attacks on other countries.

CANADA: “Cheek by Jowl” with U.S. on COIN in Afghanistan

July 2011 and beyond, no country will have been more closely integrated with U.S. President Barack Obama and Gen. Stanley McChrystal's counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan than the Canadians.

US: Soldiers Forced to Go AWOL for PTSD Care

With a military health care system over-stretched by two ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, more soldiers are deciding to go absent without leave (AWOL) in order to find treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

AFGHANISTAN: More Questions Than Answers

Last week President Obama made what is probably the most crucial announcement in the past five years of war.

US: Obama Launches Freedom of Information Initiative

Advocates for greater freedom of information are expressing approval of the Obama administration’s new ‘Open Government Directive’ - but some are sounding cautionary notes that executive agencies are still hiding behind "national security" to conceal government misconduct.

AFGHANISTAN: Troop Surge Spurs Obama’s Popularity

A poll released today finds that support among the United States public for President Barack Obama’s troop "surge" in Afghanistan has risen sharply since he delivered his speech last week. But, a plurality of the U.S. public do not believe Obama will follow through on his commitment to begin a withdrawal of U.S. forces in 18-months.